Heel and method of attaching



Nov. 10, 1936.

Filed Sept. 12, 1934 Patented Nov. 10, 1936 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,060,031 Y HEEL AND METHOD OF ATTACHING James Cavanagh, Cohasset, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 12, 1934, Serial No. 743,663

7 Claims. (Cl. 36-34) This invention relates to shoe heels and is parfinishing in the manner in which wood heels are ticularly concerned with the provision, as an commercially covered or finished. article of manufacture, of a prepared, loaded heel If preferred, the fasteners may be embedded'in which is ready for immediate attachment to a the heel bydrilling holes all the way through the shoe without the necessity of driving nails, screws heel and pushing the fasteners through from the 5 or other metallic fastenings. tread end of the heel until they project the de- It is an object of the invention to provide a sired distance from the attaching face. If headed superior heel which can be manufactured and fasteners are employed, their eads y he sold to shoe manufacturers and'repairers in comsunken in recesses counterbored in the heel so that 10 petition with the ordinary wood and leather heels they will not interfere With the sub qu nt 10 of commerce and which will offer advantages in e me O a t p te fasteners y be thus respect to both ease and security of attachment app t a y kind of heel. Whether of Wood to the shoe to which it is applied. molded composition or leather.

In the illustrative embodiments of the invention Still other ways of embedding fasteners in a disclosed herein, the above-stated object is realized heel em dy y invention. ay b emp y d 15 by the provision of a heel which has perman ntly with advantage under some circumstances. For embedded therein and projecting from the atexample, I contemplate drilling hOleS through the taching face thereof heel attaching fastenings attaching face to a Sllfiicient depth in t e made of some stiif, strong material which is caintr n py n solution or cement i pable of being readily softened t a condition of the holes and then forcing celluloid rods into the 20 easy deformability. According to the nature of m n l avin a suitable length f h d p the material em lo ed for the fastenings, the J e r m t attaching face of the heeln softening of them to permit them to be upset or this connection, it may be advantageous to Screw clinched in the shoe to which the h l i t b thread or otherwise cut into the walls of the holes attached may be effected either by the application t p v great t t of cement attachment 25 of a solvent or by the application of heat. The of the rods t0 the heel material selected for the fastenings may be cellu- The invention further includes a novel method loid, which is both thermoplastic and capable of Of attaching a el to a S oe by loading the heel being softened by various solvents, or it may be With a plurality of StilT fasteners. p a y of cellulose acetate or some other cellulose derivapyrexylin, leaving t ends of the ast n rs p o- 30 tive composition having one or b th of th cha u. jecting from the attaching face of the heel, makacteristics; or it may be any one of many thermoing a plurality of holes through the heel seat of plastic and/or soluble resins of which an example the Shoe, pa s the projecting ends f the fasis vinyl resin. teners through the holes, softening the ends of Althoughanumber of materials have been the fasteners and flattening them or bending 35 gested i th preceding firagrajph in order to them outward upon the insole inside of the shoe. provide an adequate disclosure of the invention By the Practice of my improved method a heel and to facilitate an understanding thereof, the may be attached Very Simply and rapidlx and invention is not limited to the use of the particuwith such exceptional security that there 15 no lar materials mentioned but embraces the use of possibility of detaching it Without destroying the 40 other materials which are e uivalent in res ect Shoeq p to The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be better understood dition in which the f stenin a gs can be upset from reading the following detailed descrlptlon 5 tened clinched or otherwise so deformed as to of several embodiments thereof in connection provide a secure attachment of the heel to the with the accompanying drawing in which shoe.

Fl l is a perspective view of a molded heel In one desirable embodiment of the invention, embgdyl-ng the invention, t a pom-0n broken the heel is molded to the desired shape from a out to reveal the internal Structure; plastic composition containing wood or leather, Fig. 2 is a View f the r portion f a shoe the fasteners: for example of celluloid, being partly in longitudinal section and partly in elemolded r t y into the heel and projecting m vation, showing the heel attached thereto; the attachin face thereef- Such a heel is light, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a leather or other strong, easily attached without metallic fastenbuilt-up heel embodying the invention;

ings, and perfectly adapted for covering or other Fig. 4 is a sectional view upon the line IV-IV 55 of Fig. 5, showing a modified form of the invention, illustrating also its application to the attachment of a toplift to a heel;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the tread face of the heel shown in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view illustrating another modified form of the invention.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, l0 indicates a heel which may be molded to the desired size and form from a plastic composition containing wood, leather or other material suitable for the production of a heel having the qualities desired. In the operation of molding the heel, there will preferably be permanently embedded therein a plurality of fasteners l2 of a normally stiff, strong material which is capable of being readily softened to a condition of easy deformability, the ends of such fasteners being left projecting a considerable distance from the attaching face of the heel as illustrated in Fig. l and the fasteners preferably having enlarged heads, as shown at It, securely embedded in the composition from which the heel is molded.

An excellent material for the fasteners i2 is celluloid or other equivalent pyroxylin composition which'is capable of being readily softened by the application of any one of several well-known solvents, or'even by heat. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the use of pyroXylin composition but embraces other materials which are equivalent in respect to being capable of being readily softened by solvents or heat to a condition in which the fasteners can be so deformed as to provide a secure attachment of the heel to a shoe.

The attachment of my improved heel to a shoe is illustrated in Fig. 2 in which it indicates the insole, l8 the insole reinforcement, 26 the outer sole, and 22 the counter portion of the shoe. The heel seat of the shoe is perforated with openings 26, corresponding in number and arrangement with re fasteners i2 projecting from the attaching face of the heel if), each opening 26 preferably being somewhat larger than the fastener which is to be passed through in order to provide for slight adjustments that may be necessary in positioning the heel accurately upon the shoe. The only special preparation required to prepare the shoe for the reception of the heel consists in punching these openings.

The operation of attaching the heel to the shoe is simple, consisting in passing the ends of the '"asteners 22 through the holes 3:3, pressing the el tightly upon the heel sea;v e shoe, soften-- th fasteners, e er with a so and flatteni down c fill the holes and pref nd flattening down the pol When ardened the attach" and exceptionally n; practice 9 with porti ner mate nt of tn e j, ositioned closer to practicable with the heel attaching nails v non are commonly used, even though the nails be driven from the inside of the shoe, and consequently a very tight edge joint is secured between the heel and the shoe and is permanently maintained, since there is no possibility of the fasteners loosening, as sometimes occurs with nails.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated a heel which is built up in the conventional manner of separate lifts 28. In this case the fasteners l2 may be inserted during the heel assembling operation through holes formed in a sufiicient number of the heel lifts to insure that the fasteners will be held securely in the heel, the heads Id of the fasteners being positioned at the joints between the lifts.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modified form of heel in which certain of the fasteners, as shown at 30, pass all the way through the heel, preferably being inserted through previously drilled holes which are counterbored at the tread face of the heel sufficiently toaccommodate collars 32 upon the fasteners 30. In this case the fasteners 30 are provided withshortprojectingportions 34 designed to receive and hold a toplift 36 provided with holes 38. In order to insure secure attachment of the toplift, an adhesive, such, for example, as pyroxylin cement, may be applied to the projections 3 or in the holes 38 before the top lift is pressed upon the heel. In Fig. 4 there is also shown a short fastener Gil secured by cement in the extreme rear portion of the heel in order to provide for a tight attachment of the heel at the back of the shoe.

In the modification. shown in Fig. 6, holes are drilled through the attaching face to a sufficient depth in the heel, which may be of wood or the like, the said holes preferably being screw threaded or otherwise undercut, as shown at 1-2. The fasteners in this modification consist of short celluloid rods l forced into pyroxylin solution or cement introduced into the holes in the heel, a suitable length of each rod being left projecting from the attaching face of the heel.

While a number of specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail, it should be understood that these are merely illustrative and that it is within the scope of the invention to provide still other arrangements of parts employing the same principles.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. an article of manufacture, an unattached shoe heel which has permanently embedded therein and projecting therefrom a fastener which is capable of being readily softened to a condition of easy deformability.

2. As an article of manufacture, a one piece composition heel having molded therein and projecting from the attaching face thereof a plurality of fasteners capable of being readily softened oi the toned "o e method of attaching a heel to a shoe which comprises loading a heel with a pluraily of stiff fasteners capable of being readily softened to a condition of easy deformability, lea ing the ends of the fasteners projecting from the attaching face of the heel, making a plurality of holes through the heel seat of a shoe, passing the ends of said fasteners through the holes and pressing the heelupon the heel seat, softening the ends of the fasteners, and flattening said sofaoeoQosr 3 tened ends upon the inner face of the insole of the shoe.

'7. The method of attaching a heel to a shoe which comprises loading a heel with a plurality of stiff pyroxylin fasteners projecting from the attaching face thereof, making a plurality of holes through the heel seat of a shoe, passing the ends of said fasteners through the holes and pressing the heel upon the heel seat, softening the ends of the fasteners, bending them outward upon the insole toward the edge thereotand permitting them to harden.

JAlVmS CAVANAGH. 

